Tuesday, November 22, 2016

I checked the displays and the gift books this morning. I displayed some books by local authors in the display case.

I checked out the book, A Nation of Takers America's Entitlement Epidemic by Nicholas Eberstadt this morning.

I am looking at A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. It is one of the books on the NEA Big Read list.

The crochet club is meeting today from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

There was a Fundamentals of Computers Class from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Beginning Microsoft Word class from 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. tonight.

I finished reading A Nation of Takers America's Entitlement Epidemic on the way home by Nicholas Eberstadt. It was about the increasing growth of the use of entitlement programs like disability insurance, social security, and other forms of welfare in the United States. It described a process where men were increasingly leaving the workforce and living off entitlements. The book is short and a very quick read. It includes two essays at the end of the book with differing views on entitlements.

What led me to reading this article is that I was reading about the loss of work due to automation. It ties in directly with increasing entitlement. In fact, the ultimate entitlement is the idea of a Universal Basic Income. Nicholas Eberstadt is quite conservative.

I finished reading Death's End by Cixin Liu translated by Ken Liu. I like that the series starts in the 20th century and goes to the end of the universe. This book is the last book in a series starting with The Three Body Problem moving to The Dark Forest and ending with Death's End. It is translated from Chinese to English by Ken Liu. The book is marvelous for the ideas it expresses.

I checked out Bruce Fabricant's book, Mount Vernon, NY Sports Champions Heroes & Legends.
I read some of the short chapters and looked through the book for books on sports figures in Mount Vernon, New York.

Monday, November 14, 2016

I read some more of The Customer Focused Library on the way to work. I am reading about different approaches to merchandising collections as well different types of libraries like Idea Stores, Children's Community Libraries, and Shopping Mall Libraries.
I checked the displays and the gift books today.

I read a copy of the New York Times Book Review today.

The Adult Games Night is tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

I sent in my final report for Arts Westchester. I also gathered some statistics on the library.

I finished my class for Library Marketing today. The final assignment was on privacy.

I finished reading The Customer Focused Library Re-Inventing the Public Library from the Outside In by Joseph R. Matthews on the train home.. The idea of customer focus is that the library should rely more on outside opinions from people who use the library to determine how the library should run. For example, it is important to have people test the website and give opinions from the outside, point out what they don't understand in the library, and get opinions from surveys and other outside sources.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

I read some more of The Customer Focused Library. A basic idea is that your customer is a library card holder. It is easier to get someone to come back who has a library card than it is to get a person who does not use the library to come in.

I registered for the Current Issues class in January and the Budgeting and Finance class in February for the CPLA. The Managing Technology class was full.

I read some more of Death's End by Cixin Liu this morning.

I renewed my American Library Association membership today. I also joined the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Visual Synthesis of the Idea: War, Gino Severini, 1914Daily Thoughts 11/12/2016
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I finished reading Jerusalem by Alan Moore on the way to work. I rather enjoyed the ending. There is an art show with scenes from each of the chapters. It makes for a nice summary. The book itself is set in the Borough of Northampton in England. It is where Alan Moore grew up. He reflects on people through ages using ghosts to reach into the future and the past. This is an interesting, deep novel that is a challenge to read.

I checked the displays and the gift books. I also printed a few flyers.

I met with John R. Howard who is a Distinguished Service Professor to discuss doing some possible programs.

I checked out the book, The Customer-Focused Library Re-Inventing the Public Library from the Outside-In by Joseph R. Matthews.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Woman at a Writing Desk, Lesser Ury, 1898Daily Thoughts 11/10/2016
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I am almost done reading Jerusalem by Alan Moore. There is a lot of very caustic material in the book which is quite dark. There is drug use, rape, and homelessness. The author does not spare the darker things in life.

I checked the displays and the gift books. I spent some time ordering replacement titles for some books. I also read a copy of Booklist and the New York Times.

I wrote my monthly report for November and compiled my monthly statistics.

I spent a little time working on getting together the programs for December.

I spent some time in the lab this afternoon.

There was an Email class tonight from 5;30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

I had a bit of an epiphany. I decided to become a member of the ACLU American Civil Liberties Union again. I also updated my membership to the CBLDF Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Still Life With Bottle and Glass, Lajos Tianyi, 1928Daily Thoughts 11/09/2016
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I read some more of Jerusalem. The characters often switch between being a ghost and being a living person. As a ghost, living people can't see them and very few can interact with ghosts, mainly mad people and drunks.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Antonio de Parada y Salgado, Allegory, 1654Daily Thoughts 11/08/2016
I got to the polling place at 6:15 a.m. this morning and voted. There were already long lines forming. I heard one person say they had not voted since the Vietnam War.

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I read some more of Death's End today. One of the plot devices is hibernation. People go into hibernation if they get sick, if they want to see an important technological development in the future or plan to live at a later date.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Summer Evening Beside the Lake, by Fujishima Takeji, University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan, 1896Daily Thoughts 11/05/2016
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I took a little bit of time to look at the NEA Big Reads Grant today.

I read a bit more of Jerusalem. The chapter I am reading righ now is a play. It has several famous writers in it among others; Samuel Beckett, John Clare, John Bunyan, Thomas Beckett and others.

I read some more of Death's End by Cixin Liu. Cixin Liu is describing the Dark Forest idea that civilizations will do what they can to survive including destroying competing civilizations before they can become competitors.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Flor De Pascua, Never Think Before You Act, M.C. Escher, 1921Daily Thoughts 11/04/2016
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I checked the gift books and the displays today.

I put in my weekly order of new books today.

Right now, I am in the computer lab.

I finished looking through The Almanac of American Philanthropy. There is information on Andrew Carnegie and Enoch Pratt as well as the Carnegie Libraries, the Huntington Library, and the Philadelphia Library Company.

I also read some more of Jerusalem. Some of the writing is experimental and a bit disconcerting. I skipped over the chapters featuring Lucia after reading some of the beginning pages, the words are all spelled differently, the dialogue is a bit jumbled, and also a bit on the mad side.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Daily Thoughts 11/02/2016
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I checked the displays and the gift books this morning.

We had a staff meeting today.

I read a copy of the latest Times Literary Supplement as well as the latest New York Times Book Review.

I put in an order of books focused on business.

There is an Advanced Microsoft Excel class tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

I read some more of The Almanac of American Philanthropy. I am reading about major historical philanthropists like Henry Ford, Madam C.J. Walker, Andrew Carnegies, and others. I also read some information on why we should support philanthropy as a solution for social problems.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Book and Guitar, Juan Gris, 1925Daily Thoughts 11/01/2016
I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I enjoyed reading Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology on the way to work. I especially liked the description of Ragnarok.

I checked the gift books and the displays this morning.

The Crochet Class is meeting today from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

There is a Fundamentals of Computers class and a Beginning Microsoft Word class tonight.

I spent time working on an order of business books.

On the way home, I read a little bit more of Jerusalem by Alan Moore. Part of the message of this book is how politicians take advantage of the poor and working class for their own greed.

I also started reading The Almanac of American Philanthropy by The Philanthropy Roundtable and Karl Zinsmeister. I am reading about various prominent philanthropists like George Eastman, Ned MCIlhenny, the Rockefellers, the Guggenheims, and others. The book starts with an overview of major philanthropists.

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